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Thread: Upanishads - where to start?

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    Upanishads - where to start?

    Namaste -

    I have secured a translation of many of the Upanishads and would like opinions on which I should read first. I am still getting my bearings in the Hindu faith and hope that the Upanishads can satisfy my desire to learn more.

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    Namaste,

    The Upanishads indicate the mystery which underlies the external system of things ~ their aim is the exposition of the secret meaning of the Veda.

    The Upanishads are Words of Mystery ~ a class of 108 philosophical writings that are regarded as the source of both the Vedanta and Samkhya philosophies.

    There are 10 primary Upanishads: Isavasya, Kena, Katha, Prasna, Mundaka, Mandukya, Taittitiya, Aitareya, Chandogya, and Brihadaranyaka.

    There are excellent translations of all of these; but the full extent of their wisdom is difficult to translate, and the inner meaning of the Vedas may not be useful to one who has no knowledge of the Vedas to start with ~ a bit like turning up at the end of a lecture just to get the final summary, which will probably be misconstrued without the knowledge-base on which it depends.

    The best place to start is with the Bhagavad Gita.
    Last edited by sarabhanga; 29 May 2006 at 03:52 AM.

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    Re: Upanishads - where to start?

    Yes, the Gita helped a lot. I've been studying it for the past few months and have found it to be very enlightening.

    I know that Krishna is the 8th incarnation of Vishnu but wonder how the Gita fits in for someone who is devoted to Shiva. How/why would someone become a Krishna devotee if He is just a demi-God? It's kind of like the electric company - if I want power to turn on the lights, I plug into an outlet in my home and electricity appears. But my electric outlet is not the source, the Power source is the electric company. Is it not Krishna is the electrical outlet and Vishnu is the electric company?

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    Arrow Re: Upanishads - where to start?

    Quote Originally Posted by sarabhanga
    There are 10 primary Upanishads: Isavasya, Kena, Katha, Prasna, Mundaka, Mandukya, Taittitiya, Aitareya, Chandogya, and Brihadaranyaka.
    Namaste Sarabhanga,

    Shvetashvatara is also included in this group, and thus there are 11 primary Upanishads.

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    Re: Upanishads - where to start?

    Quote Originally Posted by c.smith
    Yes, the Gita helped a lot. I've been studying it for the past few months and have found it to be very enlightening.

    I know that Krishna is the 8th incarnation of Vishnu but wonder how the Gita fits in for someone who is devoted to Shiva. How/why would someone become a Krishna devotee if He is just a demi-God? It's kind of like the electric company - if I want power to turn on the lights, I plug into an outlet in my home and electricity appears. But my electric outlet is not the source, the Power source is the electric company. Is it not Krishna is the electrical outlet and Vishnu is the electric company?
    namaste!
    I am a shiva devotee only by his grace. But I became a shiva devotee because of Bhagwan Krishn! (long story...)
    Krishn clearly tells us in Gita that he is rudra himself. so it is irrelevant which manifestation of the supereme being one prays to.

    just my 2 cents.
    satay

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    Re: Upanishads - where to start?

    Quote Originally Posted by c.smith
    Yes, the Gita helped a lot. I've been studying it for the past few months and have found it to be very enlightening.

    I know that Krishna is the 8th incarnation of Vishnu but wonder how the Gita fits in for someone who is devoted to Shiva. How/why would someone become a Krishna devotee if He is just a demi-God? It's kind of like the electric company - if I want power to turn on the lights, I plug into an outlet in my home and electricity appears. But my electric outlet is not the source, the Power source is the electric company. Is it not Krishna is the electrical outlet and Vishnu is the electric company?
    Krishna is not a demi-god but an avatar. I believe that the greatest worship of avatar is to follow his teaching in life. Krishna's teaching provides the most complete and practical guide to the problems of existence. Krishna uses the word 'Me' throught gita~doesn't mean one has to offer the flowers to the image of krishna only. For a monist 'Me' of gita is Atman, for others his/her own diety.

    Also a diety in hinduism is not a demi-god. Diety is a representation of an aspect of the universe~saguna brahma. The core of any hindu worship is thus worship of the saguna brahma=the active godhead=the creation as a whole. Ofcourse worship of demi-gods (~pitri upasana) and even ghosts (preta upasana) are intermingled with the core since all beings are part of the supreme reality~but this is not the central aspect of an upasana.

    IMHO

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    Re: Upanishads - where to start?

    Thank-you for for clarifying the difference between avatar and demi-God. Right now I still have a long way to go on the learning curve. The question, however, remains. Why pray to Krishna instead of Vishnu?

    Thank-you for your patience and support as I find my bearings within Hinduism.

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    Re: Upanishads - where to start?

    Quote Originally Posted by c.smith
    Thank-you for for clarifying the difference between avatar and demi-God. Right now I still have a long way to go on the learning curve. The question, however, remains. Why pray to Krishna instead of Vishnu?

    Thank-you for your patience and support as I find my bearings within Hinduism.
    Krishn and Vishnu are one and the same thing. It's like you going out to your job in a suit and the changing your clothes when you are home and wear something more comfortable. The entity in those clothes is the same just the clothes are different or so it seems...
    satay

  9. #9

    Re: Upanishads - where to start?

    Quote Originally Posted by c.smith
    Thank-you for for clarifying the difference between avatar and demi-God. Right now I still have a long way to go on the learning curve. The question, however, remains. Why pray to Krishna instead of Vishnu?

    Thank-you for your patience and support as I find my bearings within Hinduism.
    As Satay says they are one and the same for us.

    Whom you pray more depends more on whom you find more close to your heart. For example I find myself very attracted to shiva, all aspects of shakti and Sri Krishna-because he was the perfect character, so I pray to them more than I pray to ganesha or vishnu. But I know all gods are manifested from shakti or divine mother. For a vaishnav it would be different. But if you understand that all gods and goddesses are representations of the same saguna brahma then praying to any is same as praying to all.

    At a more subtle level worshipping a god is to be like them~because they represent an aspect of creation which is within us. Worshipping a god means to develop and realize these aspects of the supreme within us. So may be at various stages worshipping one god over other makes sense~but these are too personal and internal aspect of sadhana which only makes sense to the concerned sadhak.IMHO.

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    Re: Upanishads - where to start?

    Quote Originally Posted by c.smith
    Yes, the Gita helped a lot. I've been studying it for the past few months and have found it to be very enlightening.

    I know that Krishna is the 8th incarnation of Vishnu but wonder how the Gita fits in for someone who is devoted to Shiva. How/why would someone become a Krishna devotee if He is just a demi-God? It's kind of like the electric company - if I want power to turn on the lights, I plug into an outlet in my home and electricity appears. But my electric outlet is not the source, the Power source is the electric company. Is it not Krishna is the electrical outlet and Vishnu is the electric company?
    Hi Smith,
    Which scripture told you that Krishna is a demi-god?
    You said you have been studying Geeta since past few months and you understood that Krishna is a demi-god..is there any proof in Geeta that he is demi-god?
    and see your question how Gita fits in for someone who is devoted to Shiva?
    do you devote somebody by getting the knowledge from scriptures or after you devoting somebody , you try to find out the scripture for your god?

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